Aleksandra Orbeck Nilssen

Michael Haydn wrote his Italian Serenata to a libretto by Metastasio on the theme of the lover’s grief felt by the goddess Diana, who took vows of chastity without thinking that she might be hit by Amor’s arrows. This opera in two acts from 1778 celebrated its premiere during Michael Haydn’s lifetime but then was forgotten for more than two centuries; it was first performed again in full in Salzburg in 2018 and now is finally available on CPO. The performance was a cooperative venture of the Institute for Mozart Interpretation, Salzburger Hofmusik, and Johann Michael Haydn Society.